Sleepy time for Stephanos

It can be very tiring attending EU farm gatherings, as veterans who have spent half their lives in the Council of Agriculture Ministers know only too well.

European Voice

1/29/97, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 1:52 AM CET

But can Greek farm supremo Stephanos Tzoumakas really have fallen asleep so soundly over dinner with his counterparts after last week’s meeting in the Justus Lipsius building that his snoring was heard in the next street?

Yes, according to sources close to the dining table. Apparently a debate on the future of rural policy and regional funds turned into a philosophical monologue by Portuguese Minister Fernando Gomes da Silva.

He should have proposed ending subsidies to Greek tobacco farmers. That would have woken Tzoumakas up.